Silent
by treze
Summary: Kyuzo. Kirara. Katsushiro. PWP. Read and review. All flames accepted.


Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything.

Note: This would be my first S7 ff and, yes, perhaps I haven't been watching too much episodes but still… I know this sucks, which is why I posted it. By the way, the story has no plot whatsoever..

Silent

-hajime

And the red clad samurai kept his mouth shut. He simply watched as all the others tease Katsushiro and Kirara together.

"They make such a cute couple, don't you think?" said by no one in particular. Everybody laughed. All except Kyuzo.

It invaded his mind like a virus.

Katsushiro + Kiraracute couple Katsushiro + Kiraracute couple

Katsushiro + Kiraracute couple Katsushiro + Kiraracute couple

Katsushiro + Kiraracute couple…

Strangely enough, he himself doesn't know why it does.

Lost in his own world, he didn't notice the other blond samurai staring at him. Shichiroji smiled to himself. And here he was, thinking that the younger one would sense the growing curiosity in his eyes. So…Kyuzo-dono isn't as indestructible afterall…

Silently and slowly, he fell back, his shoulder almost colliding with the morose warrior's.

Still, the samurai's presence was not acknowledged.

What's wrong with him? He usually takes one of his katanas out whenever a living, breathing creature comes within ten feet radius. Not that Shichiroji was complaining…

Of course, the spear-wielder knew better than disrupting the other's train of thoughts.

He did not speak. Not after Kyuzo finally laid his blood-red orbs on him in an unintentional glare.

What to do, what to do? Fumbling for anything to say, he spoke the first words that registered in his brain.

"Nice day, isn't it, Kyuzo-dono?"

Kyuzo simply nodded. The question was answerable by a mere yes or no…right?

All of a sudden there was a burst of laughter form the front.

"So you do like her!"

"Mou!"

"You just lost, Katsushiro."

"Not you too, sensei."

The whole party kept walking still, all momentarily forgetting the existence of a certain samurai whose name only came back to earth when Shichiroji piped up.

"Kyuzo-dono, you really don't have to be so dense right now."

Lucid pair of eyes stared back.

"Enemies may strike any time."

"Yes, of course, that may be so but…" Knowing that he wouldn't be able to reason with Kyuzo's logic, he shook his head and sighed.

Kyuzo is Kyuzo.

Sometimes Shichiroji wonders how Kyuzo was brought into the world. Contrary to the popular belief (which every person would agree upon), he must have parents. How else had he been born? Although all those who knew him, especially his enemies, insist that he just materialized out of thin air, the truth can't be all that bad, ne? Surely someone brought him up…? Sure, considering the Kyuzo today, he must have lived by himself. But trace the years back. There was just no way he lived on his own from the day of his birth until he was at least four years old. He didn't have those katanas with him from his mother's womb, did he?

Shichiroji quietly thought of ways of how the morose ronin was raised. Perhaps his mother died after giving birth to him…and his father blamed him for his mother's death…and then, maybe when he was about five or six years old he was sold to a merchant who treated him badly… maybe he was always beaten to a bloody pulp… or, worse yet, sexual abuse was imposed upon him to gain more money… finally gathering all the courage he had, Kyuzo slashed the merchant with a rusty katana that was just lying around the corner… after that, Kyuzo stole to provide for himself… and, one day, the day he turned thirteen, a nice blacksmith found him and brought him to a "home". The blacksmith, probably realizing that he couldn't do anything to melt the icy exterior, taught the boy about swords and how to use them. On Kyuzo's fourteenth birthday, he forged an exclusive weapon for his adopted son, two blades concealed in a single sheathe. After giving it to the boy, the nice blacksmith probably died, a heart stroke or something, leaving Kyuzo with an ample amount of money to fix himself and find a job. And that's when he got hired by the manager Kougakyo, Ayamaro.

Shichiroji smiled to himself. Why doesn't he make use of his story-telling skills? He has some serious talent.

Unable to control his own mirth, he laughed out loud.

Kyuzo stared at him with his usual poker face. Thankfully, no one else heard him since everybody else was laughing in front.

The sun had long been set below the horizon when Kambei decided that they should rest. Kambei, Shichiroji, Heihachi, Katsushiro, Kirara and Rikichi were seated around the bonfire in the same order. Kikuchiyo and Gorobei were busy entertaining Komachi just a few feet away while Kyuzo stayed in the rear twenty feet or so away from the others.

Silence.

"Are you okay there, Kyuzo?" the leader asked.

"All clear." was the only reply.

Then there was another awkward silence.

"He's so protective of everyone, isn't he, Kambei-dono?"

"Ah."

"Protective? Or is it just because he trusts no one that's why he always stays in the back?

All eyes on the Water Maiden.

" That is only my theory, minna-sama. It's the only reason I could get whenever he walks far behind, cautious of what happens before and after him."

"It can't be helped. We are fighting a war."

"I don't know. He's just so… I can't find the words to describe him…"

"Kyuzo-dono probably had a traumatic past so he couldn't go around trusting people… just like me…"

"Heihachi-dono…"

Silence.

After a few more moments, Gorobei with Kikuchiyo and Komachi joined them.

Shichiroji's voice echoed.

"Kyuzo-dono, perhaps it will be better if you join us as well."

After receiving a nod from Kambei, Kyuzo sat near them.

Silence.

And everybody wonders. What is it with Kyuzo that drops the temperature to zero?

He's not even that scary at all. He just has this mysterious air of aura that keeps people away from him.

It was only then that they noticed Kirara's younger sibling scooting close to the living creature named Kyuzo.

"Ne, Kyu, why are you always so silent?"

Freeze.

Nine pairs of eyes made Kyuzo a little uncomfortable. Seconds turned to minutes and there was still no reply. Shrugging everything off as if it never happened, every person within Kyuzo's eyesight shook their heads at the same time.

Certainly, Kyuzo will never answer such a question. It had no basis. It was pointless to ask. It was like asking why fishes were meant to be in the sea and birds were made to fly. There is absolutely no need to search for answers. Pointless. Just simply, utterly pointless- -

"Because there is nothing to say."

Now that was unexpected.

They.Are.All.Paranoids. Kyuzo thought to himself as he closed his orbs and open then just in time to see Komachi's curiosity reach its peak.

Damn.

He should've known. Now that it- yes, IT- has succeeded to drag an unwilling set of words out of Kyuzo's mouth, it will try to keep the conversation going.

"That's enough Komachi. It's past your bedtime."

Crestfallen, the child walked over to where Kikuchiyo was.

Why is her sister so mean whenever it comes to Kyu-chan? Can't they all get along with each other? Okay, so maybe Kyu-chan did work for the enemy once but didn't Kambei choose him as one of the samurais who will save Kanna village? And isn't Kambei always right?

All thoughts forgotten when she settled herself on Kikuchiyo's lap and fell asleep. The mechanical samurai slept as well.

Kambei started talking about ideas of how one could protect a village which is something just like what Kirara and Rikichi had been describing. Shichiroji agrees every now and then with the leader. Gorobei and Heihachi just watched.

All these while the world seemed to stop rotating on its axis inside Kyuzo's consciousness. He kept his eyes on the Water Maiden. Fortunately, he was seated somewhere near the fire angling it so that it would be impossible for untrained eyes to tell where his attention was focused. Untrained eyes just like Rikichi, Katsushiro and Kirara herself. The others seemed to have noticed it not long enough. However, they didn't do anything about it. Who knows how Kirara would react if she saw the way Kyuzo's eyes scanned her face? She might be freaked out with him, not that she isn't already.

One hour… two hours… and Kambei decided to place the discussion to a halt.

And, as usual, Kyuzo was on the look-out.

"What is it that bothers you, Kyuzo?"

The apathetic ronin stared at the man who stood in front of him. What's up with Kambei? He could almost swear that the older man tries to call him by name at every possible moment.

"…?..."

"You were observing Kirara-dono. Was anything wrong with her?"

"Nothing."

"I see." The older samurai sighed.

Kyuzo stared harder.

"Nothing."

Well…what did he expect? Did he seriously think that Kyuzo would open up to him like Heihachi did?

Defeated, Kambei walked away, tilting his head in resignation.

"So you noticed it too."

"Shichiroji. You noticed it earlier, didn't you?"

"I did."

"So, what do you think?"

"It will make him more willing to die fighting for her village."

"I thought about that too."

"He doesn't do anything about it though."

"I wonder. Is that the problem?"

"He won't tell her. It is not like him. At all."

" Kyuzo is Kyuzo."

"And he is a samurai."

"Exactly."

"Sou desu, ne? After all, a samurai cannot be measured by the number of words that fall from his mouth but by the number of risks he keeps putting his body into."

"Well said. And the risk we're taking is all about her village, isn't it?"

"Hai."

-owari


End file.
